WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch now set for unification fight against American Andre Ward

Carl Froch earned deserved plaudits from all quarters after retaining the
World Boxing Council super-middleweight title against former world
light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson.

On the attack: Carl Froch put on a dazzling showPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Gareth A. Davies, Boxing Correspondent

6:02PM BST 05 Jun 2011

The iron jaw of Froch held firm in the face of a relentless opponent at the Boardwalk Hall theatre on the New Jersey shoreline. By the end of the championship contest, the Briton had left no questions unanswered.

He showed his best attributes: tenacity, courage, a champion’s heart and will, a slick game plan and, in two distinct periods of the fight, the versatility to change the pattern of the contest. The 33 year-old is now at the peak of his powers and needs to be with his next challenge the unbeaten American Andre Ward in a world unification fight late in the year.

“Froch showed he has the qualities of a champion in there, and I respect him,” said the Californian, who was working ringside as a TV analyst. “He is very confident.”

The majority verdict – 114-114, 116-112 and 117-111 – for Froch, looked skewed. Quite how Japanese judge Nobuaki Uratani marked the contest a draw will remain a mystery.

Froch is certainly on the radar of US television station Showtime, the American media and indeed, Sky Sports, who were showing a contest involving the Nottingham fighter for the first time in many years.

Eddie Hearn, Froch’s new promoter and the director of Matchroom Sport, said: “Carl has been underexposed in the UK and I’m going to badger him now with media assignments on TV shows and in magazines.

"He merits real attention. I have already had very positive messages from Sky executives back home about how well his performance was received.”

Johnson’s promoter Lou DiBella went even further. “For me, Froch is one of the most marketable fighters anywhere in the world. He’s got it all. I just can’t understand how this guy has not had a UK television deal for his last four fights.”

New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles are all possible locations for the Ward fight, expected to take place either late in October, or in December, due to Showtime dates tied up in November with the next appearance of Manny Pacquiao in a ring. Froch’s next move in the UK is likely to be onto pay-per-view on Sky Box Office.

Froch deserves every accolade. This was a gritty, composed compilation of rounds and he will have earned a legion of new fans after performing with focus against the obdurate Jamaican, who has campaigned at world-class level for almost a decade.

Froch took Johnson’s heaviest shots, mainly right hands, and replied with volleys of his own. Strangely for a man drawn to stand and fight, Froch was impressive boxing off the back foot and moving, rebuffing the danger signs in the middle rounds as Johnson poured on the pressure by landing big right hands.

Froch reacted every time by responding immediately with combinations of his own. His plan worked to perfection.

Afterwards, on the ring apron, Froch likened hitting Johnson to punching an “oak tree” and revealed that he had sustained a damaged left ear. “It’s sore but I don’t think anything is broken. I may have to get my ear checked out.

“I had a premonition that it would be me and Ward in the final, and now here we are,” added Froch.

His trainer Ron McCracken savoured the moment. “We should enjoy him now, because there will not be another one like Carl Froch coming along for a very long time.”

What's up next for Froch?

Carl Froch, the WBC super-middleweight champion, will face Andre Ward in a unification fight, later this year in the United States. It doubles as the final of the World Super Sixes — a six-man tournament fought over the past two years.

Ward, WBA champion from Oakland, California, won the light-heavyweight gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, 44 years after Mohammed Ali (then Cassius Clay) claimed the medal in Rome.

The 27 year-old is unbeaten in 24 professional fights, and is widely ranked in the top-10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.